Kingdom of Thuringia
The Kingdom of Thuringia was a state that existed within the current Frankish Kingdom. It was formed around 380, under the rule of Adalbern, King of Thuringia. Adalbern is noted to have met Ascaric I of the Frankish Kingdom and some agreement regarding trade was reached. His son Berthar I is recorded to have conquered lands in Saxony, and assumed the title of King of the Thuringians and Saxons. His son Bisin I conquered even more territory, until he was killed by the King of the Saxons in 415. His brother Adalwolf continued to push back into Saxony, creating the boarder fortifications which were the basis of the current boarders between the Franks and Saxony, Adalwolf's Line. Adalwolf died at the boarder and his body was brought to the Thuringian capital, as the people would never believe that such a mighty King as Adalwolf could die unless they saw his body with their own eyes. Even still, rumours of Adalwolf being alive and being either driven off or imprisoned by his son Hermanafrid, were common in the more distant parts of Thuringia, which eventually resulted in the legend of Adalwolf as the Immortal Guardian of Thuringia, who will return to defend his people in their time of need. Due to these rumours, King Hermanafrid was not very popular among the people, and was murdered by one of his officers in 436. His chief was to move the capital of Thuringia to Erphesfurt, and build fortifications around the city which still stood in the year 700. His son Berthar II is noted to have tried to colonise the old homelands of the Lombards, most of whom left after Zaban of the Kingdom of Lombardy moved his peoples into Italy. Berthar found little resistance at first, but his progress was halted by a certain Aion, "King of Old Lombardy" as he called himself. Berthar fought Aion at least five times, but never managed to defeat him. He eventually came into agreement with Aion's son Aripert and a boundary was set up beween the two realms. Berthar's brother Adalbern II is recorded as pushing further into Saxony, however his new holdings there did not last long after his death. Adalbern's son Adalhard I met Frankish King Childebert I in 484, to restore the agreements made between Adalbern I and Ascaric I. In 488 he moved into Lombardy again, where his forces were defeated by Gundo I of "Old Lombardy". Adalhard was taken prisoner and eventually executed. Adalhard's son Berthar III attempted to take revenge, and managed to invade further into Old Lombardy then any other Thuringian King. In 490 his forces managed to capture and kill King Gundo, however Gundo's son Faroald forced them to retreat. However, Berthar managed to establish a base within Old Lombardy, and so the few remaining Lombards could not hope to repel him. Faroald died in 499 after his capital was ransacked and torched. His brother Gaiderad retreated to the countryside and continued to assault the Thuringians until his death in 508. Gaiderad's son Gundo II managed to retake many of the territories lost in the previous years, however he lacked the manpower to retain them and so he was defeated in 514. He was brought as a prisoner to Thuringia, while Old Lombary came under Thuringian rule. Berthar's son Hermanafrid II was challenged in his Lombard domains by Alipergula, King of Lombardy in exile in Spoleto. Alipergula gained some territory, however he had to turn back due to a lack of support from duke Faroald of Spoleto, his main ally and the person at whose court he was forced to reside. Another expedition, launched in Alipergula's name in 528, resulted in Alipergula's nephew, Arichis, who lead the expedition, proclaiming himself king in Old Lombardy. He fought several battles against Hermanafrid, finally dying in 533, murdered in his camp. A certain Ederad took over command of Arichis' troups, continuing his guerilla warfare against the Thuringians until Hermanafrid's death in 535, when a large part of the domain fell openly under Ederad's control. Hermanafrid's son Aldegar I attempted to retake these, but was unsuccessfull. In 538 Frankish King Clovis I began to expand into Old Lombardy. Aldegar attempted to negotiate with the King but could only manage to obtain very vague guarantees. In 540 Aldegar began to push into Old Lombardy again as well, and had some successes, but soon had to stop his advance due to the presence of the Frankish army. In 542, Ederad's forces were defeated and the whole of Old Lombardy conquered. The new Frankish King, Theudebald I, refused to meet with Aldegar, and did not acknowledge the guarantees of his predecessor. In 544 he even demanded Aldegar hand over all the Lombard territories he had conquered. Aldegar refused, which lead to a minor skirmish in 545. However Theudebald I could not focus on the Thuringians for long, as his rule over the Frankish realms was in jeopardy. Soon, he was deposed by Chilperic I. King Chilperic met with Aldegar and granted him the securities originally bestowed on him by King Clovis, and confirmed his holding of those Lombard lands he had conquered. Shortly thereafter, Aldegar was requested to aid the Franks in the East by selling to Chilperic some of the crops the Thuringians had in abundance, due to the continued raids conducted on the Eastern Frankish lands by the Frisians and Jutes. Adalbern III, Aldegar's son, had to face an invasion by the Frisians in 553, which resulted in the northern part of Thuringia to fall to the Frisians. Adalbern III managed to drive the Frisians out in 555, with the aid of Frankish nobles. Following the Frisian invasion, Adalbern III continued his plans to occupy and resettle the Lombard lands, and managed to exchange Lombard holdings for the lands held around Saxony, as the local Saxons proved restless and not wanting to continue to submit to rule by the Thuringians. Eventually, he became overlord over most of Old Lombardy this way. Adalbern never admitted to having the terriotires "granted" to him by the Franks. In 568 a local uprising happened, supported by the Duke of Ivrea Ardoin I. In 569 a part of the Old Lombard holdings fell to the Duchy. Adalbern III attempted to retake these territories, but was only able to secure those that were not in Ivrean hands yet. In 575 Adalbern's son Bisin II managed to defeat the Ivreans, however he was not able to hold the territory for long. The territory fell apart into three domains, held by local Lombard warlords, Framicus, Erchinoald and Gundo (III). These domains slowly fell to the Franks Framicus was defeated in 582, Erchinoald in 584 and Gundo submitted to the Franks voluntarily in 585. Gundo became the Vassal King of Old Lombardy ruling in the name of the Franks. In 587 he attacked Bisin II and his army, with the aid of Frankish troops, marched deep into Thuringia. Bisin defeated his force, and his own forces managed to kill Gundo during another invasion attempt. Bisin's forces invaded Old Lombardy and sacked many cities before comming to a peace agreement with Arnegisa, Gundo's widow and Queen of Old Lombardy. Bisin's son Adelmar I restored peace with the Franks in 599, signing an agreement with King Pippin I to grant Adelmar overlordship over Old Lombardy. However, Pippin never followed up his promise and his heir, Pippin II, only wished to give the Thuringians a small part of the initial territory. In 603 Adelmar actually attacked Pippin II's tent during negotiations, killing the King. The New King of the Franks, Carloman I, declared war on the Thuringians, but never actually attacked them during his rule. Adelmar's brother and successor Hermanafrid III attempted to negotiate peace with Carloman, but was refused. In 611 Hermanafrid III moved the capital to Wihmari, as it offered much better defense against an attack. In 612 Hermanafrid III is recorded attempting to come in an alliance with Alboin III, King of Lombardy-in-exile in Italy, stating his will to divide Old Lombardy into two Kingdoms, giving the Thuringians back lands they had conquered in the previous centuries, and granting Alboin an actual Kingdom to rule. Duke Thrasimund I of Spoleto discovered this, but did nothing as he knew King Alboin did not have the manpower necessary to support King Hermanfrid's plan. Hermanfrid's son Berthar IV did not wish to continue his father's plans and severed all contacts with King Alboin. These events are said to have contributed to Alboin's health rapidly getting worse until his death six months later. In 620 Berthar IV raided several towns in Saxony, in territories previously exchanged by King Aldegar I with the Franks. In 621 a series of Saxon towns and villages had to pay tribute to King Berthar, and in 622 soldiers from these settlements were drafted for a campaign in Old Lombardy, which ended without much success. By 628 only a few Old Lombardian towns remained in Thuringian hands, and in 629 King Berthar ordered the withdrawal of all his men from these realms. Berthar gave up all claim to these lands in 630, and in 631 signed a peace agreement with Frankish king Dagobert II, who had swiftly taken over the towns abandoned by Berthar. Berthar's brother, Aldegar II, sided with Childeric IV, King of the East Franks, once the Frankish domains split in 635. Following Childeric's death, Aldegar is listed as one of the lieutenants present at the Eastern capital during the coronation of Chlothar III. Following Childeric's death, Aldegar swore himself to his heirs, the brothers Chlothar III and Theuderic II. Shortly after their joint ascension the Western Frankish Kings Childeric V and Carloman II invaded the realm of the Eastern Franks. Aldegar was tasked with escorting King Theuderic II from the battlefield after he had been injured, however his forces were ambushed and Theuderic was killed. Theuderic's brother King Chlothar III charged Aldegar with treason, however the Eastern Frankish forces were under heavy attack from the West and so could make no move against Thuringia. In 644, Chlothar III was killed during a raid and his heir Grimoald II, according to Adalwin of Wihmari, first recorded Thuringian scribe, from the time of the later King Bisin III, "turned his anger on the Thuringians" and "marched on them with all his livings brothers and princes, all who were descended from Clodio". He then records the names of 36 Franksh Princes, many very obscure and very distantly related to the East Frankish King, taking part in the invasion of Thuringia, something wholy uncommon in Frankish history. These included not only Grimoald's son and heir, the future East Frankish King Sigebert, but also Grimoald's brothers Adalbert, Drogo, Ascaric and Clodio, the first time refference is made to these brothers of Grimoald's, excluding a brief mention of Adalbert in a document from cca. 639. During the invasion Drogo, who was High Priest of Woden, supposedly prophesized to King Grimoald that, according to Adalwin of Wihmari: "should he tread upon the ground of Ullr covered in blood, he would surely lose his head within a year". King Grimoald refused to listen to his brother, however, while under the influence of drink, he mentioned the prophesy to his sister Bertrada, who was the wife of one of his generals, Amand. She told this to her other sister, Theutberga, and she to one of her friends, Gersvinda, who had married Aldhard, a man from Thuringia. This man, who was in the service of the Franks since childhood, when he saw how his own people were "hounded by the Franks left his post and came to the King of the Thuringians, along with his wife. And he told his king to seek the protection of Ullr, should he desire to survive." There was a shrine dedicated to Ullr near at hand, and when the Franks broke through the Thuringian lines the King flead to the shrine and Grimoald did not dare cross the threshold of the shrine. The war ended with the Franks retreating, as Drogo decreed events to be a sign of the displeasure of the gods. After the war, King Aldegar named Ullr the protector of the King of Thuringia, and erected a large shrine to him at Wihmari. His brothern Adalbern IV expanded the shrine further and in 657 is recorded to have met with Charibert III, who proclaimed his Kingdom of the Rhine to seceede from both the East and West Franks, at the Ullr Shrine in Wihmari. Charibert III became an ally of the Thuringians and in 658 sent them a large offering of cattle to the Ullr shrine. The Franks did not Worship Ullr at this time, as his Worship remained mainly active in Scandinavia during the 6th and 7th century. However, King Charibert, after a fortunate victory against the East King Rignomer II in 658, which resulted in Rignomer II's death, declared Ullr "his god", and "made him the name of Woden in his lands", according to a source from the Eastern Franks from two decades later. The Thuringians did not equate Ullr with Woden, and still nominally held Woden as the supreme god. There was confusion between Franks and Thuringians when reffering to Woden and Ullr, as Franks used both names for the same deity, while the Thuringians did not. In 659 Adalbern IV died. A stone was erected in his honour, on which were written the deeds he had done as King. The Adalbern Stone became a place of reverence and piety fo the Thuringians, on par with Ullr's shrine. Adalbern's son Bisin III expanded the shrine in 663, and in 664 built a new shrine devoted to Woden in Erphesfurt. In 667 the shrine was dammaged during a storm and the King sought forgiveness from the Gods, offering the largest sacrificial animal herd in the history of Thuringia. Adalwin of Wihmari, formerly a priest of Woden at the shrine, joined King Bisin's service, becoming his scribe and historian. He notes that the King sacrificed 140 bulls, 240 horses and 300 dogs to appease Woden. The reconstructed shrine was from then on called "Bisin's Sorrow". In 671 Bisin's brother Berthar is noted as having rebelled, allying himself with the Kings of the West Franks. Bisin defeated Berthar's rebellion in 672. King Bisin planted an oak at the site of his brother's death, and made yearly pilgrimage to the site until his death in 683. List of Kings * Adalbern I 380-390 * Berthar I 390-404 * Bisin I 404-415 * Adalwolf I 415-427 * Hermanafrid I 427-436 * Berthar II 436-451 * Adalbern II 451-463 * Adalhard I 463-488 * Berthar III 488-518 * Hermanafrid II 518-535 * Aldegar I 535-551 * Adalbern III 551-572 * Bisin II 572-594 * Adelmar I 594-608 * Hermanafrid III 608-617 * Berthar IV 617-635 * Aldegar II 635-647 * Adalbern IV 647-659 * Bisin III 659-683